The NCAA has stated in the University of North Carolina Public Infractions Report dated March 12, 2012 (page 11), that it "declines to impose a blanket duty on institutions to monitor social networking sites.Consistent with the duty to monitor other information outside the campus setting (beyond on-campus activities such as countable athletically related activities, financial aid, satisfactory progress, etc.), such sites should be part of the monitoring effort if the institution becomes aware of an issue that might be resolved in some part by reviewing information on a site."
In other words, an NCAA member institution's duty to monitor is the same whether its a student's online or offline activities. Nothing more. I praise the NCAA for its decision in this case. The NCAA's decision mirrors the opinion that I stated on September 2, 2011 when I said, "it may be advisable to check up on a student-athlete's public online posts in the same manner as his/her real world activity."
The NCAA's decision today has clearly stated that schools do not need to engage costly social media monitoring services that require students to provide access to their password protected electronic content. The companies that push these services are selling snake oil that is essentially a legal liability time bomb and they are preying off a school's fear. This has lead to some schools violating the constitutional rights of its students.
There is a lack of knowledge regarding social media, compliance, and the law. Unfortunately, several self-serving companies have tried to fill the void in college athletics and these companies have not only provided bad advice that may create tremendous legal liability for their clients but they also incorrectly interpreted NCAA compliance rules. These social media consultants have advised their NCAA member clients to waste tens of thousands of dollars on services they do not need. Every school that has engaged these social media monitoring services may want to demand a full refund from these consultants who do not understand social media, NCAA compliance rules, public policy, or the law.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at http://shearlaw.com/attorney_profile.
Copyright 2012 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Showing posts with label NCAA and Social Media Policies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCAA and Social Media Policies. Show all posts
Monday, March 12, 2012
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Student-Athlete Suspended From NCAA FCS Playoffs For a Re-Tweet
The NCAA does not have an official social media policy for its members. Despite the lack of a social media policy, the NCAA suspended Lehigh University's Ryan Spadola who was the football team's top wide receiver from a playoff game for retweeting an alleged inappropriate message. This suspension may have harmed Lehigh's chances of winning the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision since Lehigh lost the game that Spadola was banned from.
Playing collegiate sports is privilege and not a right. Ryan Spadola apologized for the tweet and appeared contrite over his actions. However, the NCAA still made an example out of him. This teachable moment has turned into a situation that may have major legal ramifications in the future for similar situations. What if instead of retweeting an alleged racial slur Spadola provided his opinion about the President of the United States and the NCAA disagreed with his Tweet? Would Spadola have been banned from the playoffs?
The NCAA must tread very carefully in the social media space because its actions may open itself and/or its members to massive legal liability that may not be anticipated. Those who advocate that student-athletes be mandated to turn over their private social media user names and passwords and/or allow schools access to students' private electronic content, and/or install spying software onto students' personal electronic devices may be uninformed of the law and the public policy implications. Ohio's Supreme Court ruled almost 2 years ago that while under Ohio's jurisdiction a warrantless search of electronic devices is barred in most situations. The New York Times subsequently wrote an editorial that stated that this should be the law throughout the country.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Playing collegiate sports is privilege and not a right. Ryan Spadola apologized for the tweet and appeared contrite over his actions. However, the NCAA still made an example out of him. This teachable moment has turned into a situation that may have major legal ramifications in the future for similar situations. What if instead of retweeting an alleged racial slur Spadola provided his opinion about the President of the United States and the NCAA disagreed with his Tweet? Would Spadola have been banned from the playoffs?
The NCAA must tread very carefully in the social media space because its actions may open itself and/or its members to massive legal liability that may not be anticipated. Those who advocate that student-athletes be mandated to turn over their private social media user names and passwords and/or allow schools access to students' private electronic content, and/or install spying software onto students' personal electronic devices may be uninformed of the law and the public policy implications. Ohio's Supreme Court ruled almost 2 years ago that while under Ohio's jurisdiction a warrantless search of electronic devices is barred in most situations. The New York Times subsequently wrote an editorial that stated that this should be the law throughout the country.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
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